How the Garden Grows

It is now summer - a year and a half after buying Forest House, and oh, my, how the garden has grown. This is what it looked like when I moved in:



Now there are plants growing up everywhere:





And now, of course, there are dogs in the garden!

Arne Moves In!

Arne and Bogey are now living at the Forest House!

It is so wonderful to have a full house, filled with much love and bits and pieces of Arne's family history as well.

Cooking and Enjoying

It has been a great summer at the house. My Summer Doodle dog has settled in and I have been cooking. It has been great to make meals and desserts and other fun stuff in my lovely kitchen. I am so happy with my home.

Painting Done!

The painting in the house is all done! My projects, except for little updates here and there are complete.

I love having a bright and beautiful bathroom. It went from:



to this:








My bedroom was OK before, but I really hated the closet, and now it is a lovely blue and a tranquil place:







And my guest room is really working out. It was empty:



and now is filled with color and even has a guest futon:







The Great Room is also all decorated and bright:







It is so nice to have a cozy home, with tomatoes on my tomatoe plants and now a DOG to complete the household. Meet Summer, the 4-5 year old Aussie rescue (she was abandoned to the streets of Hollister) I brought home on Monday.

Paint Colors

It is now time for me to pick paint colors. I put patches on the walls in the 2 bedrooms and the bathroom, to see what the colors looked like.






After looking at these for a few days, I decided on Polar Sky for my bedroom, Sherwood Green for the extra bedroom, and Costa Rica Blue for the bathroom.

I also finished putting plants out on my deck. It is now a really lovely reading place.

Contractor Work is All Done!

Hooray, 3 weeks later and all of the work is done!

My bathtub area is sealed and the fixtures put in. I love having a nook to place things on. I even got to take my first bath!





My closet is also installed - the prune drying trays are so cool as the sliding doors. It is nice to have a personal touch in the room and also a closet that doesn't have an open gap. It was so odd when I bought the place that there was the opening all the way to the wall, but doors not covering the whole area.





On a non-contractor note, I finally sealed my cutting boards and hung them up in the kitchen. Just sealing them brought out the amazing color in the wood.



Now, I just need to figure out paint colors and get a painter for my rooms!

Grout!

The bathroom is now all grouted! It is really cool to see the tub area coming together, with the little nook for my shampoo and the pretty tile.



Now it just needs to be buffed and sealed, and the hardware installed and it is all done!

The nook across the room is also grouted. Here you can see it and its reflection.



A glass shelf will be added and then it will be usable space that is not as ugly as the prior medicine cabinet.

Hooray, the house project is almost done.